Burning desires
We are sent out again in short order, almost before the new haircut has dried. The enemy, it seems, hasn't learned their lesson; the balloon is up again. But it seems the enemy have learnt their lesson, a flight of Albatros and DHV's saw us off in short order. Back at the field we report, whole but holed, that it is our general staff who haven't learned their lesson. They seem compelled to repeat the same old lines again and again, rather than break the habit and start thinking.
Compulsion is one of my pet obsessions. Also dependencies, habits, fetishes, addictions, symbiotic relationships. I have, after all, followed the weed for all those years. Talking to people who have been addicted to much stronger things, I find that the more intense and prolonged the pleasure, the harder it is to give it up. And all of us seem to keep the memories deep within us. I woke from a dream where I had smoked a pack of Marlborough, vividly recalling the crackle of the paper as it turned to sparkling white ash, the crinkling smell of the smoke that wafted back from the end into my nostrils, and find that someone else still feels in dreams the electric tingle and hissing in the ears as the needle finishes it's job.
People who claim that they have never in their lives been addicted to anything don't accept my argument of "Have you managed to do without oxygen for more than five minutes?" as valid. Oxygen is natural, so you cannot be addicted to it. Well, opium comes from poppies, not a chemist's laboratory. So, of course, does nicotine. It comes from a variety of the cabbage family. I hate cooked cabbage, as it happens, although I love it raw.
The difference between a compulsion and an addiction is simply one of freedom. Addiction comes from within, a demand for something to be swallowed, drunk, injected, smoked. If the demand is not complied with, something inside starts to cause pain and distress. Compulsion comes from without, a demand for something to be done. If the demand is not complied with, something outside starts to cause pain and distress. Is it more pleasant to be addicted to something than to be compelled to do something? Ask the spirit, it's a question of freedom.
On pain of death, we have been compelled to return yet again to roast the balloon. It seems the eyes in the basket can see what our troops are getting up to, and that makes the general staff uneasy. The fact that what our troops are getting up to is exactly what the other side is getting up so they know just from their own actions what we are doing is as specious an argument as is my claiming we are all addicted to hydrogen and oxygen. Air is good for life, therefore you cannot be addicted to it. Digging new trenches is good for the war effort, therefore the other side cannot be allowed to know that is what we are doing. The general feeling is that the enemy won't be expecting us back so soon after our last drubbing, and a quick dash and squirt might just pull it off.
Compulsion is one of my pet obsessions. Also dependencies, habits, fetishes, addictions, symbiotic relationships. I have, after all, followed the weed for all those years. Talking to people who have been addicted to much stronger things, I find that the more intense and prolonged the pleasure, the harder it is to give it up. And all of us seem to keep the memories deep within us. I woke from a dream where I had smoked a pack of Marlborough, vividly recalling the crackle of the paper as it turned to sparkling white ash, the crinkling smell of the smoke that wafted back from the end into my nostrils, and find that someone else still feels in dreams the electric tingle and hissing in the ears as the needle finishes it's job.
People who claim that they have never in their lives been addicted to anything don't accept my argument of "Have you managed to do without oxygen for more than five minutes?" as valid. Oxygen is natural, so you cannot be addicted to it. Well, opium comes from poppies, not a chemist's laboratory. So, of course, does nicotine. It comes from a variety of the cabbage family. I hate cooked cabbage, as it happens, although I love it raw.
The difference between a compulsion and an addiction is simply one of freedom. Addiction comes from within, a demand for something to be swallowed, drunk, injected, smoked. If the demand is not complied with, something inside starts to cause pain and distress. Compulsion comes from without, a demand for something to be done. If the demand is not complied with, something outside starts to cause pain and distress. Is it more pleasant to be addicted to something than to be compelled to do something? Ask the spirit, it's a question of freedom.
On pain of death, we have been compelled to return yet again to roast the balloon. It seems the eyes in the basket can see what our troops are getting up to, and that makes the general staff uneasy. The fact that what our troops are getting up to is exactly what the other side is getting up so they know just from their own actions what we are doing is as specious an argument as is my claiming we are all addicted to hydrogen and oxygen. Air is good for life, therefore you cannot be addicted to it. Digging new trenches is good for the war effort, therefore the other side cannot be allowed to know that is what we are doing. The general feeling is that the enemy won't be expecting us back so soon after our last drubbing, and a quick dash and squirt might just pull it off.
posted by Sopwith-Camel | 12:14 am
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